Pandoran Chronicles
by Forever Free Evergreen
Summary: So you all want to hear about another tale of Pandora, eh? One where the very people and land are in jeopardy? If not- tough shit! I'm telling you anyway! R
1. Chapter 0

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own anything Borderlands or White Knight Chronicles related, just the words below. I also do not own the OCs featuring in this feature bar my own._

_The following story contains paragraphs of violence, gore and possibly also including paragraphs of nudity, rape & sex later on depending on how it progresses. If you don't like any of the aforementioned, find another fic to read._

_Enjoy!_

**~#qp#~**

_So, you want to hear another story about Pandora, do you? One where the very people and land itself is under threat? If not, well tough shit- I'm telling you anyway._

_Firstly, there was the Vault: the alien prison that drew many to their deaths as they tried to find it. All but the four warriors, who found and opened the vault to find a mass of tentacles and disappointment. Certain that the Vault held nothing of value they disappeared into the wastelands unaware of how wrong they were._

_With the opening of the Vault came the start of Eridium, a priceless alien elemental crystal that was soon appearing more than weeds throughout Pandora as time progressed. Its appearance attracted the attention of the Hyperion Corporation. They came to Pandora for three things…_

_To mine the Eridium…_

…_bring order to the savage planet…_

…_and claim the _other Vault_ hidden on Pandora._

_Why 'claim' instead of 'find', you say? That's because it was already discovered years ago during the time of one Madoras Yshrenia. Unfortunately for him, it was more dead and extinct than the volcanos on Odinburgh. Yet he knew that it would one day awaken and so he began building his own city around it to ensure that his descendants had a foothold for when it did activate._

_And awaken it did- five years after the destruction of the Vault. And with its awakening comes the start of a chain of events that would bring together a group of unique individuals for an adventure unlike any other…_

**~#qp#~**

It was tired, thirsty and too slow to realise that it had gotten too close to the human building before it happened. With a loud pop, the skag's head burst open like a watermelon while the shooter, from his vantage point atop the siege wall a hundred odd metres away, lowered his rifle with satisfaction as he mentally added another notch to his kill streak.

Making to rub his success into his teammate's face, the shooter could have sworn he actually felt something graze the side of his head the instant before his teammate's head suddenly vanished into a puff of crimson gore all too similar to the kill he had just made. Instinctively ducking down behind the small wall that prevented them from dropping off the top of the siege wall, the shooter cautiously peered over the top in an attempt to spot the attacker only to see nothing but the dry, empty wastelands of Pandora stretching for over a thousand- maybe fifteen hundred yards before the nearest range of rocky outcrops high and suitable for sniping could be seen.

Foolishly standing up as he brought his rifle up to his eye, the shooter could just make out the prone form of a sniper and a sudden muzzle flash before the very bullet drove straight through his scope and out the back of his head. Pirouetting from the force of the bullet, the corpse fell backwards over the ramparts to fall fifty feet to the hard ground beside seven masked figures in form fitting black fatigues that bore the Hyperion insignia on the plate on their left shoulder.

**God bless us everyone  
We're a broken people under loaded gun**

With the guards to the front door neutralised, the figure at the head of the group nodded to the rest of the squad signalling the start of the mission. In quick succession, two of their number broke away from them, either quickly scaling up the siege wall or right through it, as the rest of them made their way to the sealed entrance to the mining fort that supplied power to the fortress city of Velgander far to the east of their location.

**And it can't be outfought, it can't be outrun  
It can't be outmatched, it can't be outrun  
NO!**

Putting down a weapon that looked to be a cross between a rocket launcher and large sledge hammer, the largest of the remaining five stepped up to the shut door and begun prying it open. Once wide enough, the team captain pulled a cylindrical looking device of his back and tossed it through into the courtyard where many Yshrenians had stopped and turned towards the grinding sound of the entrance being opened against its will. Splitting lengthwise in mid-air, the now five strips sunk into the ground in a crescent shape and undigitized the armaments they were concealing.

**God bless us everyone  
We're a broken people living under loaded gun**

As the roar of gun, rocket and mortar fire filled the courtyard, the infiltration team had now entered through the open door and were now crouched behind the shield that had gone up between the turrets.

**And it can't be outfought, it can't be outrun****  
It can't be outmatched, it can't be outrun****  
No-oh!**

Pointing to the two alleyways either side of their position, it was clear that the captain was telling the rest of his team to split up and move through the fortress towards their mission objective judging by the way they suddenly dispersed leaving him to pick up the lone cylinder that housed the redigitized turret defence system before vacating the blood soaked courtyard.

_Greymon Leader as __**?**__ the Mercenary_

**And when I close my eyes tonight  
To symphonies of blinding light**

Hearing the sounds of gunfire coming from the courtyard, Yshrenian troops from all over the base began making their way towards the aforementioned location some yelling into their Echo-frequency for any information as to what was going on there. They quickly stopped in their tracks as one of the infiltrators suddenly came barrelling out of the alleyway that lead to the courtyard, who literally mimicked their movements upon seeing what was in front of him before aiming his two bulky, high calibre submachine guns at them and spraying them with incendiary and corrosive lead.

_Littleking9512 as __**?**__ the Perforator_

**God bless us everyone  
We're a broken people living under loaded gun  
Ho-oh!**

Noticing several heavily armoured Runners speeding towards him, the infiltrator flicked the small levers situated above the grip with his thumb causing the two submachine guns to transform into long range railgun type rifles that spewed a pair of slugs at such velocity that two of the three Runners were torched as their fuel tanks were perforated by the high velocity bullets.

**Like memories in cold decay  
Transmissions echoing away**

Seeing that the enemy could only fire two shots at one time, the driver of the third Runner gunned towards him before he too became part of a smouldering heap. He had not counted on another infiltrator, the same one that had opened the fortress doors earlier, to suddenly appear and bring his rocket launcher-hammer down on the bonnet causing the vehicle to flip harmlessly over both infiltrators heads.

_Greywing44 as __**?**__ the Wrecker_

**Far from the world of you and I  
Where oceans bleed into the sky**

Evidently not wanting the vehicle to survive the landing, the heavy weapon specialist aimed his hybrid weapon at the Runner's underside and pulled the trigger. The resulting explosion catapulted the Runner clean out of the fort and directly into the very outcrop from which the infiltration team's eighth had took out the guard who had already jumped away from the burning comet upon seeing what was coming his way.

Once sure that there would be no more unexpected wrecks coming his way, the sniper began resuming his job of picking off enemies attempting to hinder his teammates. Whether he was unaware or just plain ignoring them, the driver and gunner of the Runner had managed to pull themselves out of the wreckage, remarkable unscathed, and were now bearing arms on him only for both to be taken out simultaneously by a flock of azure feathered raptors.

_Carefree Luminary as __**? **__the Ranger_

**God save us everyone  
Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns**

Smirking underneath his mask at the sound of tendons and throats being ripped open by his winged familiar's flock, the sniper pumped his rifle to reload the chamber and took aim at the pilot of a Buzzard already finding another target by the time the bullet found its mark and sending the aircraft with its two passengers spiralling downwards into the ground.

**For the sins of our hands, the sins of our sons  
the sins of our fathers, the sins of our sons  
NO!**

As the Yshrenian soldiers scrambled to get out of the way of the Buzzard as it crashed, they failed to notice one of the infiltrators among their ranks. By the time realisation had set in on them, their heads had either been separated from their bodies or been given a few extra holes to breath out of as the infiltrator hacked and blasted them with her elemental repeater pistols that had been fitted with short blades to the muzzles.

_Shirayuki Hoshi as __**?**__ the __Gunblader_

**God save us everyone  
Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns**

Pausing momentarily to reload her weapons, the infiltrator quickly took off again. From the platform above her, an Yshrenian soldier who had somehow managed to avoid detection took aim at her back. Before he could fully squeeze the trigger, the roar of a shotgun could be heard as his body suddenly found itself being ripped apart.

**For the sins of our hands, the sins of our sons  
the sins of our fathers, the sins of our sons  
No-oh!**

Ejecting the spent cartridge, the shotgun wielding infiltrator took a quick glance down at the retreating form of his teammate before turning to face the heavily built Yshrenian brute charging towards him with a mace poised above his head to bring down upon the intruder. Undaunted by the intimidating sight, the infiltrator twisted a dial on his left gauntlet turning the colour of the small device attached to his shotgun from yellow to blue. The blast emitted from the shotgun when the infiltrator fired stopped the brute dead in his tracks at the shock of realising his shields had suddenly been taken out. The pause was enough for the infiltrator to grab the brute at the back of the neck-

_Rebornblood as __**? **__the Warrior_

-and slam him face first into his knee effectively crushing the man's skull.

**And when I close my eyes tonight  
****To symphonies of blinding light**

Barely glancing down at the twitching corpse, the infiltrator brought his free hand to his heart, lips and forehead before offering the appendage to the sun in some sort of prayer or salute to the large hydrogen mass. With the ritual over, he then about faced to clock an enemy soldier upside the head with his shotgun before moving out.

**God save us everyone  
Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns  
Ho-oh!**

On the other side of the fort, several Yshrenian troops, having seen the mayhem and destruction the small group was creating, had decided that flight was better than fight and were currently scrambling towards the vehicle hanger. Too concerned with escaping, they failed to notice they were being tailed by one of the infiltrators until they reached the hanger door and had to stop while the infiltrator turned intangible, glowing a chilling blue in the process, and passed by them and straight through the hanger door. Dumbfounded as they were at the sight, the sudden beeping coming from their belts alerted them to the fact that their grenades had been armed and were about to blow.

**Like memories in cold decay  
Transmissions echoing away**

On the other side of the door, the infiltrator waited as she listened to the frantic whimpers of the soldiers as they desperately tried to pry their grenades off that she had frozen in place.

_The Moonligh Sonata as __**? **__the Siren_

**Far from the world of you and eye  
Where oceans bleed into the sky**

Nodding in satisfaction at the resulting explosion that rocked the entire hanger, the infiltrator calmly walked towards one of the troop transport vehicles not caring that an entire section of wall behind her started to collapse from the force of the grenades going off.

While all this was going on, the final member of the infiltration team had reached his goal and was now setting the small package that would level the reactor within fifteen minutes of activation. Having used the confusion and mayhem his teammates were creating to sneak in, there was practically no one to stop or hinder him save for the few brave Yshrenian troops to suddenly come storming in upon realising the enemies goal.

Activating the bomb and drawing his high frequency blade off his back simultaneously, the infiltrator suddenly dashed towards the closest of his would be assailants. One step, one swing, repeat- within seconds of drawing his blade, he was now standing behind the troops and returning his weapon to its sheath.

_Shadow of the End as __**?**__ the Assassin_

With the click of his blade came a chain of cries as the Yshrenian troopers suddenly found themselves splitting in two from head to crotch, shoulder to hip or just losing their head altogether. Before the first drop of blood could adhere to the ground, the infiltrator was already making his way back courtyard where the rest of his team, minus the sniper, were loading into the vehicle one of their number had just drove in.

**Ho-oh!  
Like memories in cold decay  
Transmissions echoing away**

Engine roaring as the infiltration team made their getaway, stopping long enough for their sniper to drop down onto the roof, the distance between them and the reactor was well over three kilometres when the bomb went off.

**Far from the world of you and I...**

Despite this, the shockwave of the explosion was still powerful enough to send their vehicle flipping exhaust over bumper…

**...where oceans bleed into the sky!**

**~#qp#~**

**Facts & footnote**

_Can't believe I actually managed to get this done on time for Christmas. I'm not joking when I say it's been either sleep or work for me these past few weeks. And can someone remind me of what a day off and a break is, please?_

_Odinburgh is just a play on Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland due to Edinburgh Castle residing on an extinct volcano from many years ago._

_The __**? **__is just to keep everyone curious as to who the characters are until their true debut in the fic._

_The song used was _The Catalyst_ from _Linkin Park _as it just seemed to fit in for me although there might be more suitable ones for the rest of you._

_Review if possible & until next time_

_Watch this space, peace out & Merry Christmas!_


	2. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer's on chapter one although owning WKC would be a grand B-day present._

**~#qp#~**

_So, _now_ you are interested in hearing my tale, huh? I suppose a little sample of carnage does tend to change the minds of the simpletons searching __for action and adventure._

_Well then. As much as I would like to continue from where I left off, a story is nothing without knowing of how it all began, of how this ragtag group of misfits were first gathered under a single banner against two of the biggest companies to set down on Pandora._

_It all began several months beforehand, during a day where negotiations had reached fruition and a rivalry between two planets of a distant star was put to rest- That reminds me, that piece of shit owes me a hundred bucks for betting it wouldn't work out!_

_Now where was I?_

**~#qp#~**

The sudden jolt that coursed through the ship upon landing was enough to rouse even the dead from their eternal slumber let alone him. He had finally fallen into a slumber after endless hours of listening to the whines and moans of the old Mk325 Condor public transport frigate, where each groan of the metal frame made him wonder if the space relic was about to suddenly come apart, only to awaken with a hand reflexively going for the handgun in his holster until remembering where he was.

He was on this bucket of space bolts because he had taken up a job that was to be carried out on Pandora, the huge wasteland of a planet also known as Treasure Planet and the Borderlands, for quite the hefty sum if the job went smoothly. Then again, on Pandora, nothing ever went smoothly which was probably why he had wisely decided to splurge what little resources he had left on a more up to date assault rifle than the battered old one he had been using for the past few years.

Finally able to step off the rusted old transport, the Mercenary took his first look at the true face of Pandora as he shielded his eyes with one hand. While probably not as hi-tech as Opportunity city or run down as Old Haven, the space port town of Eis Moslay definitely seemed cleaner and less damaged by random bandit attacks although that was probably due to the fact that this was the only space port on the planet with a restricted air space zone to allow safe travel to and from the planet without the risk of being blown up by bandits on a killing spree.

"_Could all the hotshot wannabes that signed up for the Balandor Vigilante Committee request please make their way towards the Catch-a-Ride station on the western exit of Eis Mosley" _ A Claptrap maintenance droid spoke out above the current noise of engines and various languages that mingled through the air. _"Please ensure to have your ECHO unit at the ready to verify your identity. False, fake, stolen or forged ECHO units will result in your extrem__ely painful death and mild viewing pleasure- for the spectators, at least"_

Grimacing slightly at the droid's choice of words, the Mercenary made sure his own ECHO pad was still secure in the inside pocket of his worn and weathered combat jacket where it was kept.

Barely the size and thickness of a handheld device, the Echo pad, or E-pad as it was soon referred as, was a multifunction technological masterpiece. With its many functions including passport ID, GPS,voice and video communications, monetary account, all currently held licenses and even area time zone and temperature, it was considered _the_ most crucial item to everyone whether they remained planetside or wished to venture into the farthest regions of space. By law, every boy and girl had to receive one within three months of turning of age, which was fifteen for humans.

Following several other mercs who were in the same boat as him so to speak, the Mercenary just went with the flow showing his ECHO pad to the soldier at the door to the bus for verification and managed to snag a bench all to himself once inside. He had almost drifted off again before a voice sounded over his E-pad the tone of authority it held telling him this was probably their client and, by all accounts, their current cash cow.

'_Kno__wing what kind of men and women you are, I will dispense with the pleasantries'_ the voice echoed through his ear courtesy of the minuscule earpiece in one ear. _'I am Captain Cyrus of the 555__th__ Castleguard platoon and as of now, all of you are under my comm__and for the duration of this mission'_

'_As I'm sure you're aware, if you bothered to fully read the job script, Senator Valtos from Balandor is finalising peace talks with Faria today once one of the planet's Archdukes arrives here himself…'_

The Mercenary tuned out the drabble spilling from his earpiece having read the job description before accepting it back on Eden-4 although that was only part of why he had taken it.

Having been born on Balandor himself, the Mercenary knew all about Senator Valtos who was known for his skill in negotiating peace talks between feuding worlds including the one between Balandor and the forest planet of Faria. It was actually the whole reason behind the construction of Balandor town here on Pandora, to seal the peace treaty between the two planets on neutral soil although who in their right mind would do something like that on the Borderlands was anyone's guess.

All he knew was that Castleguard, a galactic known protection corporation, had sent out a job offer for extra guns and he wanted an excuse to visit a few old faces he had not seen since they got drafted into the settlement project and dragged to Pandora with their guardian and boss.

That…and he was rather strapped for cash right now.

**#~#~#**

Rapacci was in a foul mood. Today was a big day for him and his small business in this small dump of a Borderlands settlement. He had risked everything by packing up his business in Parma, a city on Balandor famous for their fine alcoholic beverages, and moving to Pandora once the settlement had taken root. And now, four and a half years after making the choice of moving, it looked as if his risky decision was finally about to pay off.

And yet, instead of being nervous or anxious, the warg was looking right pissed as he stared at the door with shotgun in hand as if wanting the next person to walk through that door and want him or her to become nothing more than a red puddle of leftovers on the ground outside.

The hiss of the front door sliding open and the pumping of his shotgun to load a round into the chamber was almost simultaneous. The expected roar of said shotgun did not come however as Rapacci's mind was still his own and not of the savage beast he was known of becoming when in angered, thus allowing him to recognise the person to have entered the iron sights of his weapon to be someone other than his supposed target.

"I know I said I would try to swing by when last we met but, isn't this a bit much?" The Mercenary inquired nervously never having been able to overcome the fear his old boss had instilled in him when he worked part time for him while on Balandor.

"Dragon! Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" Rapacci exclaimed lowering his shotgun and engulfing the human in a one armed hug that would have likely crushed him had he used both arms. "What brings you to this barren cesspool of a rock?"

"Work, what else?" Dragon replied weakly feeling like a rib or two had fractured under the pressure of one of Rapacci's meaty arms.

"Fair enough" Rapacci chuckled as he went back to his chair overlooking the front door of his shop. "So you're part of that vigilante corps Castleguard's set up for the big event, eh? Can't blame them for hiring the extra security given all the vips that'll be attending this gig. I here that even old pretty boy himself might be making an appearance"

That was news to Dragon. He knew that they were beefing up security in case of bandit attacks during the meet and the party that was to be held after it. To actually have Handsome Jack, the CEO of the Hyperion Corporation, to come along and likely bring his own security detail was most likely to turn the small settlement of Balandor into a fort to rival that of Opportunity and Sanctury.

Before anymore could be said on the subject, the door to the shop opened again followed quickly by the roar of the shotgun that would have torn apart the teen that was about to walk in had he not dove to the side upon seeing the shotgun in his boss' hands.

"Where the hell you been, Leonard!?" the warg roared at the teen as he cautiously peered through the open door to see if he was going to be fired upon again. "You better not have forgotten about what today is"

"How could I with you going on about it since the Senator himself came in to place an order in person for an entire shipment of Parma's finest" Leonard muttered under his breath as he properly entered the shop seeing that Rapacci had now placed the shotgun on the table beside him. "And that was ten months ago"

"And yet you still came in late" Rapacci grumbled as he began pacing the shop floor. "I hedged all my bets on this when I left Parma to come here, called in every favour I owed and worked my fingers to the bone to create and protect this place. All for this day"

Too wrapped up in his spotlight moment, he was completely unaware that Leonard was mimicking him behind his back causing Dragon quite the task of not laughing at the teen's antics. It was even harder when Rapacci turned round only to see Leonard standing around looking bored before turning away again where Leonard mimicked him again.

"It's not going to start for hours" Leonard pointed out after listening to Rapacci continue his spiel for long enough. "If I go now, I'll be back with time to spare"

"You damn well better be back with time to spare" Rapacci growled at him. "I got an E-message from Yulie: Her and Raus have already left Parma and their frigate will probably be here within the next two hours. Get to the spaceport, meet up with them and bring the goods back here like your lives depend on it- _because it does_"

Both Leonard and Dragon gulped at his words. When Rapacci made a threat, he meant every word of it and it was never wise to even think about calling his bluff on it. Suddenly remembering that Leonard was not the only one in the shop apart from himself, Rapacci glanced over at Dragon looking like he just had an idea.

"Want to make a few extra bucks making sure this idiot does his job for once?" He asked of the mercenary.

Leonard would have liked to have complained had he not finally taken notice of the familiar red haired individual off to the side.

"Dragon, is that you?!" He exclaimed stepping up to his old friend from when they were both still living on Balandor. "How've you been these days? What planets have you-"

Both Leonard and Dragon instinctively dropped to the ground as Rapacci's shotgun roared once more taking a chunk out of his ceiling.

"Get your asses moving before I relocate them over the walls of my shop!" The warg practically snarled at them while waving his shotgun about. "Talk about crap while on the road but be sure to focus on bringing the merchandise back unscathed if you want to be unscathed yourselves!"

"Hasn't changed much, I see" Dragon remarked as they quickly exited the shop before Rapacci could make good of his threat.

"I think he's actually gotten worse over the past month" Leonard muttered sourly in response risking a look over his shoulder in case the warg had overheard them. "Makes me wish I volunteered along with Yulie for going to Parma for the shipment…Course, he still would've picked her to go anyways…"

This caused Dragon to laugh. Out of Leonard and Yulie, the latter was the hard worker always getting her own work done the quickest and still find time to do her own thing whatever that was these days since coming to Pandora.

"How's she doing anyways?" Dragon asked after getting his laughter under control.

"Same as always: energetic, cheerful, raring to go, eager to tease me and more than willing to make you eat her fist if you so much as bug her" Leonard replied as they reached the Balandor Catch-a-Ride station. "Driver or shotgun?"

**#~#~#**

Yulie could not help but smile broadly as the cargo bay doors to the supple frigate opened up allowing the glaring hot sun of Pandora to welcome her back to the Borderlands. It had been a gruelling week long trip to and from the planet to collect the shipment Rapacci ordered for the meet tonight between the representatives of Balandor and Faria, but it would be worth it if it stopped Rapacci from breathing down hers and Leonard's necks about the occasion and give her some much needed free time to resume what she had been doing before the warg nominated her for the trip.

All she had to do now was wait for Leonard to show up to provide some extra fire support for the truck laden with high quality wine from Balandor. And what better way to pass the time than by trying to wake up the truck driver who was still snoozing inside the driver's cabin since the start of the flight.

"Get up!" She snarled as she kicked the door to the cab startling the papitaur out of his slumber and accidently hit the horn of the truck startling him further.

"A-Are we there already, Miss Yulie?" He asked while squinting due to the brightness of the Pandoran sun shining through the open cargo doors. "Dear me, I only dozed off five minutes ago"

"That was _thirty hours_ ago, Raus!" Yulie snapped kicking the cab door again before hoisting herself onto the truck roof to jump into the gunner's seat behind the 25mm machinegun. "Let's get going already!"

"Sh-Shouldn't we at least wait for our escort to arrive first?" Raus asked as he brought the truck to life.

"Like Leonard's ever been on time before" Yulie snorted wincing as the heat stung her exposed flesh and forcing her to slip her goggles over her eyes to actually see if there were any bandits were coming for them as they pulled out of the frigate. "Knowing him, we'll meet him just before we arrive in Balandor"

Barely five minutes after leaving the spaceport, Yulie suddenly found herself eating her words as she spotted the gleaming black outrunner gunning towards them. There was only one person she knew that would take the paint job that would make them stand out like a sore thumb on the bland stretch of dust between Eis Mosley and Balandor and she happened to work at the same place as him.

"Well, we were supposed to meet up around here anyways" The girl muttered before recognising the mop of red hair in the gunner's seat.

Ignoring the profanities that flew from Raus' mouth as she jumped from the moving truck, Yulie ran towards the oncoming runner that had skidded to a halt and allow the gunner to get out before tackling him in a hug.

"Dragon, it's you!" She practically squealed oblivious to the groan of pain the merc let out as the force of her collision slammed him against the side of the runner. "I haven't seen you for ages! How you been?"

"Better, thanks" Dragon replied when she finally let go of him. "Leonard was right. You are still as energetic as ever"

"That better have been all he said about me" Yulie said as she half glared at her best friend who was still in the driver's seat of the runner. "Nice to see you're on time…for once"

"I had a good gunner with me this time. Bandits didn't even know what hit them" Leonard replied smoothly.

"Not good enough seeing as he let you pick the worst paint job yet again" Yulie threw back quickly. "A black spot on a pale landscape? It's like an oil stain on white steel"

Before Leonard could try to conjure up a decent comeback to what his best friend was saying about his choice in colour schemes, Yulie had made her way back to the truck and clambered up into the gunner's seat giving Dragon a lovely view of her shorts covered backside in the process.

"Let's get moving, we're burning daylight and the Farian shuttle will be coming in soon" She declared hitting the roof of the truck to inform Raus that they were ready to move off.

Quickly hopping into the runner before Leonard took off after the truck, Dragon had to disagree with the driver's earlier statement about Yulie not changing since he had last seen her. True, she was very much the same, but she was definitely a lot cuter in the four years between visits.

**~#qp#~**

**Trivia**

_Eis Mosley is just a play on Mos Eisley, the spaceport city on Tatooine in the Star Wars saga._

_If you break down 555 into Roman numerals you get LVV. Translate the last V into 5 & you get Lv 5 or Level 5 the creators of White Knight Chronicles._

**#~#**

_Be honest, folks, who of you who know me were expecting to see my own OC debut first in this fic?_

_Review if possible & until next time…_

_Watch this space & peace out!_


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer is on chapter 1_

**~#qp#~**

"Enter" Dalam called out as the buzzer to his office and quarters on the Farian transport ship echoed through the room.

Stepping through the doorway, the Captain of the ship saluted the Archduke whom he had the privilege of transporting to the barren planet of Pandora where the truce between their planet and Balandor would be finalised.

"We are approaching Pandora, Your Grace, and are about to commence our orbital flight pattern once we receive word from Eis Mosley" The Captain told the Archduke curtly. "I thought you would like to begin making your way to your shuttle in preparation for your departure to the surface"

"Surely you could have just told me this over the E-Comm and save us both the time, Captain Scardigne" Dalam mused lightly. "While I appreciate the gesture, as well as the quarters you have arranged for me, I am still but a passenger on your ship just like anyone else and must therefore abide by your rules to all those wishing for transport for the distance stars"

"I shall try to remember that for next time, Your Grace" Scardigne apologised while bowing to the Archduke. "In my defence however, it's not every day one gets to transport someone such as yourself to a place where the prospect of peace for Faria is within reach"

Chuckling at the quick wit the Captain countered with, Dalam turned his attention to the window where the outline of Pandora could just be seen. Somewhere on that desolate orb, Valtos would be awaiting him, in the small town he had built in order to finalise the talks on neutral grounds as per agreements to the peace treaty he was to sign later on this cycle on the sun.

For too long this war between their planets had raged stripping each other's troops of their families and loved ones. He himself had been robbed of his only son and daughter-in-law leaving him to watch over his granddaughter all by himself while word had reached him long ago that Valtos himself had lost his wife to the same war. Perhaps it was those loses that spurred the two men to attempt instilling peace between their planets seeing as the only thing the war was doing to them was increasing the death tolls with each passing month and depleting their fortunes.

"If that is all, Captain..." Dalam began indicating he wished to be alone now.

Catching the silent request, Scardigne bowed once more before vacating the room and proceeded to the hanger to personally watch over the engineers give the Archduke's shuttle one final check over -before prepping it for launch. In truth, he did not need to oversee his crew, having handpicked them himself, but rather wanted to visit one of the Archduke's guards who had decided to accommodate the hangar due to its size and his own personal phobia.

"How much longer 'til we land, Captain" The guard asked from where he sat against the hull the fingers of one hand drumming up a storm in his nervousness.

"A few hours. Soon, you shall be on the wide open yet desolate Borderlands where death welcomes you with every step you take" Scardigne told him.

"And free from the confines of this ship" The guard muttered. "No disrespect, Captain, but this is the only place where I feel at better ease unlike the coffin you offered me upon boarding"

"What you would call a coffin, we call living quarters for four, my friend" Scardigne chuckled as he patted the guard on the shoulder glad that he was sitting otherwise he might have had to stretch to do so otherwise. "For now, just imagine getting some sun on your tanned skin once planet side until we land. Perhaps that shall ease your mind slightly"

Although he appreciated the Captain's advice, the guard would only feel at ease once this whole ordeal was over and he was back in the forests of Faria regardless of the outcome of this little trip the Archduke was making for all Fariankind. Until then, he would wield his warhammer-cannon for His Grace and willingly throw down his life for the man who had taken him in all those years ago.

**~#qp#~**

As the sheriff of the town of Balandor on Pandora, it was her job to greet the VIPs at Eis Mosley in person- particularly if said VIP was here to seal the truce talks between her planet and theirs. And so, here she was standing in the landing zone for the incoming Farian shuttle with her hair blowing in the breeze it made as it came in for a landing. Even as the shuttle started kicking up sand as it touched the ground, she did not move an inch apart from bringing a hand up to shield her eyes from the sand cloud that threatened to engulf her were it any thicker.

Dust settling and engines shutting down, the sheriff did not have to wait long before the doors to the shuttle hissed open allowing her to finally see the man who had come to see her father along with his entourage of guards that included a rather tall half breed who stood head and shoulders above the rest of them.

"Your Excellency, welcome to Pandora" She greeted the Archduke with a courteous bow. "I am Valora, sheriff of Balandor and overseer of the security for the treaty signing"

"A female with a responsible role" Dalam marvelled as he stopped in front of her. "Excuse me if this sounds rude, but did you earn this position or was it your father's doing?"

Valora was almost tempted to draw her weapons and hold one up to the Archduke's throat while aiming the other at the closest of his guards in case they decided to react to her actions. Instead, she just smirked slightly before schooling her expression.

"Perhaps, if bandits attempt to crash the party, you'll get to see for yourself" She calmly replied gesturing to the armoured vehicle that was to serve as the Archduke's transportation to Balandor. "For now, may I suggest we get you in transit? Standing around out here is not very wise for the rich and fancy- they tend to end up stripped of everything, including their life"

"It will be their lives that shall be taken if they try" The tall guard stated taking a step forwards so that he was standing beside the Archduke.

If Valora was in any way intimidated by this giant of a man, she hid it well although she did cast a weather eye over his weapon of choice: a rocket launcher that also functioned as a war hammer judging by its size, shape and personal modifications the man had made to it.

"You must forgive Zai, Sheriff" Dalam apologised lifting a hand up slightly in a silent order for the giant to stand down. "He is still young and headstrong"

"So long as he doesn't start a fight with anyone while in Balandor- we get enough dead Swiss cheesing bandits trying to enter without permit" Valora scoffed almost humorously as the group made their way to the transport all the while hoping that the Archduke did not prefer travelling in comfort.

**~#qp#~**

Cursing as the latest pothole in the road caused her to leave her seat before crashing back down painfully, Yulie slammed her hand down on the roof of the driver's cabin.

"Can you _not_ go over every damn pothole and crater from here to Balandor?!" Yulie snarled causing Raus to swerve wildly at the surprise he got from her.

Grumbling under her breath as she brought a hand to her tender tush, Yulie opened up a channel to Dragon to converse with the only other person who did not have to focus on the pockmarked, weather beaten road.

"So, how you been, Dragon? Been anywhere interesting lately?"

Grinning at the eagerness and curiosity in her voice, Dragon doubted that Yulie had changed at all since he had last seen them. It was unfortunate that his travels were not more exciting than she was imagining.

"Just…here and there…doing odds and ends jobs" He meekly replied unable to match her enthusiasm.

"Odds and ends jobs!? C'mon, Dragon, you know that you can do better than those meagre, dead end job requests!" Yulie snapped over the E-comm. "You gotta take the Ahwahnee by the tusks, grab the best of jobs on the board, complete them and build your rep!"

"Wish I had your confidence, Yulie" Dragon sighed leaning back in his seat during a brief laps in bandit attacks.

For as far back as he could remember, Dragon never really had much self-confidence. One of the reasons he had quit his job with Leonard and Yulie at Rapacci's and became a mercenary was in the hopes of building his confidence levels and become surer of himself. While he had become much more experienced than when he first set out , quite frankly he was amazed he has lasted so long as a merc and not just quit and go back to being a delivery boy with his friends.

"Enough with the negative attitude and be more optimistic!" Yulie demanded. "Don't force me to come over there and kick your ass for motivation!"

Dragon laughed at that even though she meant every word of it. Sensing anymore talk on this particular topic would more than likely earn him Yulie's infamous hook, Dragon wisely changed the subject.

"So what have you been doing these days other than making Leonard look bad in front of Rapacci?" He asked cautiously.

"Oh…just this and that" Yulie shrugged in reply. "I've mostly been working extra shifts to earn extra money"

"Oh? And why would you want to overdo yourself?" Dragon inquired curious as to why one of Rapacci's best workers would willingly wear herself out with even more shifts.

"She's saving up for a decent sniper rifle" Leonard explained before Yulie could get a word in.

"Leonard, you are _very_ lucky that you're currently driving in another vehicle than mine!" Yulie hissed into her comm. "How did you manage to eaves drop while drive at the same time?!"

"Let's calm down, folks- save the beat ups for _after_ we get the wine safely to Balandor and not at risk of being on the business end of Rapacci's shotgun" Dragon advised knowing that, while watching the two argue and bicker just like when he was still with them, Rapacci's temper over damaged deliveries was bound to have gotten worse.

Muttering the many curses she heard from different races under her breath, Yulie complied deciding that waiting until after they were done for the day before lashing out at her best friend for tattling on her would be a much better way to end the day. She had just gotten comfy again when Raus slammed his foot on the brakes causing her to nearly go flying head first out of the turret had she not caught herself in time.

"I swear, Raus, if you do something like that one more time, I'll…" Her sentence was left hanging as she spotted the reason as to why the papitaur made such an abrupt stop.

Lumbering just ahead of them, a fifteen foot troll stood blocking their pathway to Balandor.

"Brute must've caught scent of the wine!" Leonard swore as he drove towards the troll.

"More likely it's hungry and we just happened along" Dragon reasoned as he readied the turret gun. "Go the right for a flanking attack- we need to get its attention on us and off the wine! Yulie, whatever you do, don't shoot at it!"

While desperately wanting to vent off some steam riddling the creature's green hide, Yulie followed Dragon's hold fire order but kept her finger hovering over the trigger in case the backup needed backup as they swerved around to the troll's left flank where Dragon began peppering its head to get its attention. The move worked and now the troll was attempting to chase after the Runner as it swerved between rocks, cacti and large bones while driving in circles round it.

Becoming more infuriated with each failed attempt to capture the Runner, the troll roared in anger as it foolishly decided to ignore the vehicle for the more cumbersome truck laden with offworld wine. Having expected the troll to ignore them eventually, Dragon fired at the troll's knees tearing through the not so durable hide located at the joint and turning the left kneecap into powder causing the fifteen foot creature to collapse as the appendage gave way like hacked lumber.

Roaring in a mixture of pain and anger, the troll struggled to rise up again oblivious to the fact that it was still facing the cargo truck. The moment it raised its head up enough to see the vehicle, Yulie unleashed an iron storm upon it not letting up until her gun eventually overheated from continued use. By that time however, there was not much of the troll's head left.

"Feeling better now?" Dragon asked as Leonard pulled the runner up beside the truck.

"Maybe" The girl admitted while definitely feeling calmer now that she had been able to shoot something.

"Times like this, I wish you were still here working with us" Leonard chipped in as they continued on towards Balandor now that the threat had been neutralised. "Don't know how many times Rapacci gave us a flogging because bandits snatched or damaged the cargo"

Dragon merely chuckled in response while mentally pondering if sticking around a while after completing his job would be a good idea or not. At least he knew he would get paid and that it would not be boring.

**~#qp#~**

_And thus, another chapter finished although I apologise if it seems lame or boring & such- been in a bit of a slump with writer's block & real life problems to really get my nose to the grindstone. That & I'm not used to _not_ having to update my WKC fic now that it's complete- just feels strange after working on it for so long._

_Until next time_

_ Watch this space & peace out!_


	4. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer is on chapter 1_

**~#qp#~**

While not as vast or futuristic as the cities of his home world, the sight of the residents of Balandor town going about their business filled Valtos heart with pride as he looked over the small town he and the one hundred original volunteers who had followed him to Pandora had literally built from the ground up here on Pandora. While some may think him a fool for creating a village on a planet that held more risk of death than his own, he believed that Pandora was the perfect place for the completion of the peace talks between his folk and the Farians if just because living on the Borderlands forced people of all races to discard their differences and band together to survive.

Now, after just four years of hard labour and other hardships thrown at them from the Borderlands, the town of Balandor boasted a population of over two hundred and fifty with their own law enforcement that protected it and held off attacks from bandits and the creatures of Pandora with little difficulty.

All of this born from the single idea of wanting war to end between the worlds of Balandor and Faria- the perfect example of proving that people can do anything if they put their minds to it.

It was a shame that it took the loss of his wife to first spur him into taking up action against the war between the two worlds. Had he been more intuitive about this, his daughters would still have her mother. But the past was just that and all he can do now was ensuring the lives of others do not share a similar fate to those already affected by the ravages of war.

Still, now was not the time for celebrating. The day was still young and the treaty was yet to be signed by him and Archduke Dalam until later on in the evening. Until then, he dared not relax and spend some quality time with Cisna his youngest daughter.

"Mr Valtos" A young man called out to him as he approached. "Your daughter- I mean Sheriff Valora has just sent word that she's picked up the Archduke at Eis Mosley and is on her way back as we speak"

"And we are one step closer to achieving peace between our races" Valtos added to his own amusement before turning to the speaker. "Anything else to report?"

"The wine shipment is approaching your residence as we speak and a group of travellers calling themselves the Marcus Revellers are at the town entrance asking if they could perform in the town square today"

"A circus? On Pandora of all places?" Valtos asked his eyebrows lost in his hairline.

"It could be compliments from Handsome Jack. He did provide the spare materials we needed to build the settlement among other things when we first got here" The young man provided although Valtos could sense his suspicions about it being some sort of Trojan horse.

Valtos hummed as he looked over his options. On one hand, this troupe could provide entertainment not only for the delegation from Faria but also the townsfolk of Balandor in celebration of the peace treaty becoming final and the end of the war. On the other hand, it could just be a ruse for some bandit group to sneak in and raise havoc or worse. It was times like this that he wished that Sarvain was around. Unfortunately, his assistant had requested some time off to return to his home world due to some family emergency.

"Let them enter…but keep a close eye on them" Valtos told the young man eventually.

"Shall I ask Castleguard to handle things?" The young man inquired.

"No, Kyris, have your own men and women watch over them" Valtos corrected gesturing to the young man's plain clothing which allowed him to blend in with the crowds and even the surroundings with an almost unnatural ease. "While Captain Cyrus will surely spare a few of his men to watch over the troupe, they will be more cautious and on guard around them"

"Whereas my squad can spy on them in plain sight without getting attention allowing us to watch them unawares" Kyris finished off catching on to Valtos' plan and nodding in agreement.

"Be sure as to inform the Sheriff of what's going on" Valtos advised as Kyris made to leave. "We both know how much she detests babysitting jobs such as transporting the Archduke so she will more than likely have her temper set on a hair-trigger by now"

Mentally agreeing to the Senator's words, Kyris practically disappeared from the balcony before Valtos' eyes to issue orders to his group and seek out Valora before she got the wrong idea about the troupe and just decided to shoot first and ask questions later- as much as he respected her, she was not always the most mature of people.

**~#qp#~**

Leonard did nothing to hold back the grin to spread across his features as his two vehicle convoy rolled into Balandor town and right up to the residence of Senator Valtos whose two-story home overlooked the town square where the celebrations would begin the moment the peace treaty was signed later on this very night. For the first time in a while, the cargo he had transported arrived safely to its destination without coming to harm or being snatched meaning that he would not be on the receiving end of one of Rapacci's temper tantrums.

Sighing in relief herself, Yulie hopped out of the turret seat of the cargo truck and stretched not caring if she got stares from people including Dragon before he tore his gaze away from her before she caught him looking.

"Well, we arrived- and the wine is still all with us" Yulie remarked as several caterers walked over to the rear of the truck to begin relocating it inside the residence for the upcoming meet. "All thanks to Dragon"

"Hey, I helped out too!" Leonard argued.

"You just drove where Dragon told you while he did the real work" Yulie threw back leaving Leonard frustrated as he tried to come up with a reply to little result.

"Easy, you two, keep those tempers under boil until after this thing's over, will you?" Dragon intervened before a proper argument could break out between them.

Smiling in assured victory, Yulie walked off in the direction of the town square where the townsfolk would be having their own party to celebrate the treaty signing once the aforementioned had happened elsewhere leaving one frustrated teen and unsurprised mercenary in her wake.

"You _always_ take her side" Leonard muttered sourly to Dragon once their friend had disappeared from sight.

"I didn't take any sides, just tried to stop the pair of you from fighting" Dragon pointed out holding out his hands in a placating gesture. "And even if I ever did, it was my own side- where the repercussions of siding against Yulie don't involve me getting hurt later on whenever you win a fight"

He held a valid point. Whenever Leonard and Yulie started one of their little childish fights way back when they all still lived on Balandor, Dragon always tried to keep out of them but at the same time tried to stop them before it was not just words that were sent flying- like Yulie's fists whenever Leonard rarely won in a battle of wits and words against her.

"You say that but you still fancy her, don't you" Leonard stated more than questioned the mercenary.

"Maybe a little" Dragon admitted looking anywhere but at Leonard. "You have to admit, she does kinda grow on you. Not to mention the fact that she's not as unreachable as a certain Senator's youngest daughter, according to unnamed sources"

"I…don't know what you're talking about" Leonard grumbled turning to face away from Dragon.

Dragon merely rolled his eyes at his friend's childishness. It was no secret among the three of them that young Leonard had a crush on Cisna Valtos the youngest daughter of the Senator himself after accidently running into each other on their home world of Balandor many years ago. Despite it being just a fleeting moment, Leonard had become besotted with the charming young girl no matter how much he denied it.

"You better pray her sister doesn't catch you snooping around- I hear she can be quiet the unstoppable force when angered" Dragon advised before deciding to depart from the residence in favour of finding out where he was to be patrolling tonight during the signing. "I'll swing around Rapacci's later once this has all blown over. Tell him to have my cut ready by then"

Leonard merely nodded in response before turning his attention to one of the caterers who was approaching him to sign off the wine. While he was having thoughts of sneaking inside the residence once the coasts was clear, his conscience along with Dragon's words made him think better of it and wait for a quieter and not so important time to try and meet up with Cisna again.

**~#qp#~**

No sooner had the armoured vehicle came to a stop outside Senator Valtos' residence several hours later did Zai kick the door right off its hinges in his rush to escape from the confined space much to Sheriff Valora's displeasure.

"Have Farians never heard of doors or do you just have a nasty habit of busting your way through everything you don't know how to properly use?" She snapped at him briefly forgetting about being in the presence of Archduke Dalam as she glared daggers into the behemoth before her. "It's not easy to get one of these vehicles all the way out here in the Borderlands"

"I have a dislike for small closed off spaces" Zai said in lieu of a proper apology as he calmed his breathing and returned the glare sent his way.

"Well, the next time you and the Archduke decide to visit, let us know if you're tagging along or not" Valora suggested sarcastically. "That way we can order a few Kevlar umbrellas to cover His Grace in our open air transport truck"

"Are you implying that I am an incompetent bodyguard" The giant growled rising to his full height so to intimidate the Sheriff.

"Feel free to test your mettle against me anytime" Valora challenged grabbing the handle of one of her weapons. "Even now, if you want"

Zai looked like he was sorely tempted to take Valora up on that offer even with Archduke Dalam present. He was actually in the process of indigitizing his war hammer when an unfamiliar person suddenly appeared between the two combatants as if out of nowhere catching them both offguard.

"I apologise if I interrupted anything" Kyris apologised. "But I need to talk to Sheriff Valora about a few matters that have cropped up during her absence from the town"

Biting back the frustrated growl at being prevented the chance to finally blow off some steam, Valora returned to the job at hand and turned to face Archduke Dalam to see if he would be alright if she excused herself from her duty to deal with whatever trivial matters the shadow walker had found for her this time.

"By all means, your job as keeper of the peace here in Balandor is far more important than watching over some old tree like myself" Dalam told the Sheriff bowing gratefully to her for all she had done for him and his entourage. "I shall not keep you any longer. And I will comment on the grand job you have done in securing safe passage to your father if you wish"

"Like I need my old man to give me a gold star for doing my job" Valora muttered quietly under her breath as she bowed respectfully to the Archduke. "I bid you good day, Your Grace, and thank you for agreeing to peace between our worlds"

Catching the insult in her words, Zai made to reprimand the Sheriff but kept himself in check as Dalam gave him a look that told him to stand down. All he could do was glare at her retreating form before following the Archduke into the Senator's residence.

"If you hadn't interrupted, Kyris, I would have cut that Farian down to size!" Valora snapped at the walking shadow once they were alone.

"Had I not intervened, you would have destroyed all the hard work your father put in to make this peace possible" Kyris threw back coolly. "We both know you dislike bodyguard duty but openly insulting the Farians that they are the warmongers is not exactly something a sheriff should do"

"Hey! When I decided to get enrolled in law enforcement, there was nothing in the book about doing babysitting duties!" Valora snapped back before signing heavily as he anger diminished. "Let's just cut the crap and get to why you wanted to really talk my ear off about"

"A circus troupe calling themselves the Marcus Revellers are performing tonight in the town square" Kyris explained giving her a brief rundown of the conversation he had had with her father on the matter and what actions were being taken. "Asides you, your father and Captain Cyrus, no one else knows about what my group will be doing"

"Let's keep it that way" Valora commented recalling that old saying about too many cooks spoiling the broth. "Last thing we need is our vigilante corps pretending to be spies and giving away our hand"

While it might not appear as such given her dislike for her current job, Valora deeply admired her father for what he had accomplished and was not going to let anyone attempt to ruin things between the two worlds.

That did not mean that she wanted the night to go off without a hitch. No, she wanted someone to show up and cause havoc- all so that she could blow off some steam blowing them to pieces!

**~#qp#~**

_Sorry if this seems rushed a bit. While I wouldn't have minded waiting until tomorrow to put this up, I have a busy schedule on Sunday & didn't know if I would have time to fine tune things before hitting the hay._

_On another note, by the time I post up the next chapter I should have had enough time to update chapter one so that the _**?**_s are replace with the characters names…unless those authors prefer it that way_

_Review if possible & until next time_

_Watch this space & peace out!_


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